HUEY HAS CRUCIAL MISSION VIETNAM-ERA HELICOPTER TO SUPPORT VETS PARADE TODAY.Byline: CHARLES F. BOSTWICK Staff Writer LANCASTER -- Gary Chapman Gary Chapman may refer to:
It brought back memories. ``It was good memories, though. I had good memories from when I was flying,'' said Chapman, a Lancaster resident who was a 19-year-old Army helicopter door gunner A door gunner is soldier tasked with firing and maintaining manually directed armament aboard a helicopter. The actual role will vary depending on the task given on a particular mission. in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. A flying memorial to Vietnam veterans This article is about the French band. For veterans of the Vietnam War, see Vietnam veteran. The Vietnam Veterans were a six-person French psychedelic group that released six records in the 1980s. The band was praised by many alternative music publications. , the restored UH-1B Iroquois helicopter arrived at Fox Field on Friday in advance of its appearance in today's Operation Welcome Home parade, of which Chapman is one of the organizers. ``This is going to be a huge event and a beautiful parade,'' said Chapman, who now works for Pratt & Whitney in Canoga Park. The helicopter's appearance was the result of an e-mail and letter-writing campaign by Lake Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. resident Kate Le Croix, who was 2 years old when her helicopter-pilot father was killed in action in Vietnam in 1967. Le Croix said she began trying to arrange an appearance after reading a newspaper article about the parade plans. ``When I read about it in the paper I knew we had to have this helicopter in it,'' she said. Le Croix, who works with her husband in real estate, said she has no memories of her father, which is probably the reason she gets involved in veterans efforts. ``It's a little piece of my dad's history I get,'' she said. The helicopter, a Vietnam veteran This article is about veterans of the Vietnam War. For the French psychedelic musical group, see Vietnam Veterans. Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. itself, comes from the Wings & Rotors Air Museum in Murrieta, where it was restored to flying condition and painted with the markings of the 118th Assault Helicopter Company ``Thunderbirds'' Third Platoon. ``We're here to support Vietnam vets, specifically,'' pilot Pat Rodgers said. The helicopter will fly over today's parade, which will start at 9 a.m. on Lancaster Boulevard at 10th Street West and run to Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling . Lineup time for veterans is 7 a.m. A ceremony will follow at 11 a.m. at Boeing Plaza at Sierra Highway and Lancaster Boulevard, then a barbecue that is free to veterans from 11:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. at Grace Resource Center, 45134 Sierra Highway. More than 2,000 veterans are expected to walk or ride in the parade, led by veterans of the Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. . Two little girls will walk in front of them tossing flower petals onto the asphalt. The Lancaster parade was inspired by the emotional welcome Chapman Welcome Chapman (July 24, 1805 - December 9, 1893) was an early Mormon leader born in Readsboro, Vermont. Chapman was the leader of the Mormon settlers in Manti, Utah, from 1854 to 1862, and helped broker peace between the settlers and Chief Wakara's tribe. and friend Ray Santana, a Marine machine-gunner in Vietnam who is now a professional photographer, got last Veterans Day at the national Welcome Home parade in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. . Intended to honor the military personnel who more than 30 years ago came home from Vietnam to hostility or indifference, the Lancaster parade is drawing veterans from as far away as Arizona. ``We got a lot people calling and saying: Can we be in the parade? Can we be in the parade. When we'd explain ... they choked up. They were crying over the phone,'' said Santana. ``It's a healing process and long overdue.'' The 2005 Las Vegas parade was organized by retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Mike Jackson For the P. G. Wodehouse character, see . For other people named Mike Jackson, see . General Sir Michael David "Mike" Jackson, GCB, CBE, DSO, DL, (born 21 March 1944) is a British army officer, formerly Chief of the General Staff. and former journalist Tara Dixon-Engel, who together wrote a book, ``Naked in Da Nang,'' about Jackson's experience as a forward air controller in Vietnam. ``It got us thinking we need to find some way to say `Thank you and welcome home' to our Vietnam veterans,'' said Dixon-Engel, who with Jackson is in Lancaster for today's parade. ``This is the welcome home we didn't get 35, 45 years ago,'' Jackson said. The effort is having surprising results. Standing near each other at Friday's helicopter arrival, Lancaster residents Larry Johnson and Mike Jackson -- no relation to the lieutenant colonel -- discovered they had served in the same Navy aviation unit in Vietnam a few months apart in 1970 and 1971. Both men wore tiny metal badges bearing a black horse on a circular red background -- the Black Ponies, or VAL 1. VAL - Value-oriented Algorithmic Language. J.B. Dennis, MIT 1979. Single assignment language, designed for MIT dataflow machine. Based on CLU, has iteration and error handling, lacking in recursion and I/O. "A Value- Oriented Algorithmic Language", W.B. 4, a light-attack squadron of propeller-driven OV-10 Bronco bronco: see mustang. planes armed with guns and rockets. ``This is great,'' said Johnson, who spent 27 years in the military before retiring and later went to work for Northrop. ``This is the first guy I've met from our unit since I retired.'' CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) A Vietnam-era Huey helicopter, above, flies over Fox Field in Lancaster in preparation for today's Operation Welcome Home parade. At left, Kate Le Croix, daughter of a Huey pilot who was killed in Vietnam in 1967 and who arranged for a Vietnam-era Huey helicopter to be in today's parade, looks at the Huey at Fox Field in Lancaster on Friday. (3 -- color) A Vietnam-era Huey helicopter flies over Fox Field in Lancaster on Friday in preparation for today's parade. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer Box: IF YOU GO |
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